Nigerian minister blames COVID-19 and Russia/Ukraine war for rising food prices
Federal Government blames covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine War for the rise in food prices. Bandit attacks on farmers have not affected the country’s food production.
Mohammad Abubakar (Minister of Agriculture) stated that attacks on farmers had prevented access to farms in Nigeria’s northwest and north-central regions. To improve security, the government still deployed Agro-Rangers.
He stated that food inflation was caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and the war between Russia, and Ukraine.
He stated that insecurity concerns the government but that production has not fallen significantly.
“Truly, they can’t access all the farms in the country. You will see a drop of production. But right now, we are doing everything to ensure both productions remain intact through that security provision.” Abubakar stated this during a ministerial briefing on Thursday, August 4.
The Minister explained that “When COVID came, it affected a lot of things including food production, and the after effect of that is what we are still facing and that will lag for some time before it is stabilized. I believe the price of rice has dropped a little bit and we are still working on it.
“The whole world is currently reeling out of COVID and now battling the consequences of the war in Ukraine and Russia, but things will stabilize and the ministry of agriculture is doing everything possible in terms of addressing the problem; we are not relenting so that the prices will come down faster.”
The minister’s statement comes after reports emerged of how farmers have been prevented from accessing their farmlands, especially in several states in the north, due to bandits’ attacks
